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Social Security (Lone Parents and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2008

My noble friend makes a very reasonable request. I hope she will forgive me if I cannot, off the top of my head, say precisely what is in train to evaluate and review the effects of this policy. I am sure that there is some way and I promise to take that back to the department to see how we can do it effectively. Next year’s welfare reform Bill, which will take forward some of these broad concepts, will be another opportunity for detailed scrutiny of that issue. The noble Lord asked about the evidence on sanctioning lone parents. Our administrative data show that under the current income support regime, only one in 20 lone parents subject to the work-focused interview regime are sanctioned each year. Of those sanctioned, more than half go on to attend a work-focused interview within six months. I am conscious that time is proceeding apace.